Maurizio Sarri with furious with his squad after Lazio suffered a 4-1 defeat to Genoa in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday.
The Biancocelesti are currently on their pre-season retreat in Grassau, Germany, where they faced the Rossoblu in a friendly earlier this week. It was not a positive match for Lazio, who lost 4-1 after new Genoa signing Massimo Coda netted a hattrick, overshadowing Ciro Immobile’s effort.
As highlighted by Corriere dello Sport (via LazioNews24), Sarri was the first on the training ground in Grassau yesterday, waiting for his squad to gather in a semicircle. He gave a controlled, calm and firm speech where he underlined that it’s okay to be tired, but not to have the wrong attitude.
The Lazio players resembled a a group of schoolchildren being told off by their teacher, listening in a deathly silence. Before the friendly, Sarri had intended to give his squad a more relaxed training session yesterday, but that notion was immediately dispelled.
Lazio had a double session in Grassau, with a long series of exercises and tactical drills taking place in the morning, and a number of matches kicking off in the afternoon. Sarri wants his squad to be ready for a top four fight, so performances like the one against Genoa cannot be allowed to happen again.